Career Advice: Exiting With Grace

It’s super exciting, but also a little sad, because next week I finish up at my dream job. I’m moving to Australia, and am looking forward to a good cleanse of the soul. But I’m also really going to miss my job.

However, I know it’s time for me to go, because I’m just not feeling it any more. If we were sitting on a beach, having a few brewskies, maybe rubbing off the sand that had dried onto our legs, I’d explain it to you like this:

“When you surf, you need to have momentum to actually catch a wave. You need to turn the board around, face the shore and paddle for your life until that wave swells under your board and carries it away (hopefully with you now standing on top of it).

And your feelings during that whole sequence is your cue for when you need to leave your job. It’s time to go when you see the swell in the distance and can anticipate a wave coming, but instead of meeting it with enthusiasm, your whole energy drops. You just can’t be bothered, you’re over it, it’s a pain and you know exactly how it’s going to pan out and you know that another wave is coming right behind it. Instead of enjoying the process, you’re dreading the repeat.

And so you force every last piece of enthusiasm out of your being, turn that board around and paddle harder than you have the whole time, pushing yourself to ensure that this wave is a success. And you catch it and you stand on that board with strength and expertise that’s come from all the other times you’ve done it before. And then you ride all the way into the shallows and exit the surf, off to find another adventure.

Cos every single surfer gets tired. And every beach has a turning tide that can create perfect waves or a shitstorm of whitewash that nobody enjoys. The trick to it is exiting with grace.”

And then I’d give you a Hawaiian name, like Pipiopi or something. Maybe we’d have another brewskie before we head off for dinner and forget this deep moment. Or maybe you don’t like the beach and we’d never be friends in the first place. Whatever man, peace out.

Cheers,

Sarah

Btw, if you’re wondering how I can be employed in HR, and write about HR – here‘s my explanation.